The BEVA is offering free membership to veterinary students to help encourage more vets into equine practice. The initiative, launched this month, has been made possible by generous sponsorship from Baker McVeigh, CVS Group, IVC, Newmarket Equine Hospital, Rossdales, VetPartners, and XLVets.
Currently fewer than one in ten veterinary students opt to go into equine practice. BEVA hopes that the new scheme will provide a broader base of students with an insight into the world of equine veterinary medicine and open more eyes to what’s great about being an equine vet.
Katie Roberts the President of the Association of Veterinary Students said: “This is a very exciting opportunity for students. Anecdotally, we know that some students can feel very daunted by equine practice, especially if they don’t come from a traditionally horsey background. Being able to become involved with BEVA at no cost means that they can get a true taste of the equine veterinary world in addition to their experiences on EMS, and I’m sure this will pique the interest of our members.”
Student members will have access to a network of almost 3,000 members, BEVA being one of the largest equine veterinary associations in the world. Other benefits of membership include:
- Online access to BEVA’s Equine Veterinary Education journal
- Access to a special student rate to attend BEVA Congress – the largest equine veterinary conference in Europe
- Free access to the BEVA online learning platform – which hosts a range of equine veterinary learning resources
- Free access to BEVA’s practical veterinary apps
- Exclusive discounts on a wide variety of everyday things from cinema tickets to grocery shopping through BEVA’s partnership with PG Mutual
- Access to special student rates to attend our half day CPD lectures that take place across the UK
Over the next few weeks/months BEVA will be releasing a series of short videos from BEVA Council members explaining how and why they chose to work in equine practice.
“I did’t really have any aspirations to become an equine vet until I went into practice,” said Equine Internal Medicine Specialist Dave Rendle. “I knew I didn’t want to do small animal work because I didn’t want to be inside all day and I didn’t think I’d be able to cope with quick fire consults so I opted for farm and equine work. Equine work offered greater opportunities for pursuing diagnostic investigations and treating individual animals and I found it very rewarding.”
Free student membership is part of a range of initiatives being launched by BEVA, aimed at developing stronger links with veterinary students and veterinary schools. The Association of Veterinary Students (AVS) and the Student Equine Veterinary Association (SEVA) are now invited to BEVA Council meetings to help develop strategies and projects, and a new career development committee is being set up. This year BEVA will again be touring all the UK vet schools and some international schools to give talks on getting into equine practice. The sessions are rounded off with pizza and beer, giving students the chance for one-to-one chats with speakers.
For further information about student membership of BEVA visit their website.